Regarded as the biggest junior race in Ireland, the Junior Tour was selected by the Cycling Ulster Road Commission as a major target for our riders from the beginning of the season. The race attracts some of the top international young riders and provides a fantastic opportunities for our riders to develop.
The Cycling Ulster team for this year’s Junior Tour as well as using the race for their development, put in some outstanding performances with two stage victories for John Buller (Banbridge CC) being the obvious highlight. The Ulster squad was made up of five riders, two were returning from the 2016 team in the form of Robbie Doherty (Ballymoney CC) and Liam Wilson (Powerhouse Sport), John Buller who is also a second year junior but was riding in the Junior Tour for the first time along with first year juniors, Breandan Flanagan (Powerhouse Sport) and Conor Halvey (NRPT).
Speaking after the race, Cycling Ulster Team Manager, Peter McBride said “With a record entry this year the level of competition was high. Breandan Flannagan took on the role for GC after his strong performance in the opening stage, the time trial, leaving him 23 seconds behind yellow. We set out with a plan for Breandan to take time where he could but the yellow jersey was up to the task and Breandan finished 23 seconds down and 7th place overall at the end of the week. As he is only a first year junior, he is a great prospect for the next years race.”
McBride went on to say that John Buller came “into his own as a rider recognised with a strong finishing kick” when he came away with 2 stage wins, proving he was the fastest sprinter in the race. McBride also said “Liam Wilson proved to be a great asset to help John to his stage victories and even managed a top 10 himself despite working for John.”
Conor Halvey also had strong race, finishing as the second placed Cycling Ulster team rider on GC, finishing inside the top 20.
Unfortunately Robbie Doherty crashed out on stage 3 and was not able to continue.
McBride summed up the entire week by saying “The biggest result for me was the way the team bonded and were working for each other on each stage. This was also helped by the team support in the form of Conor McIlwaine who was our Soigneur, Calvin Moore who was our Mechanic and Michael McBride as helper, they were professional and created a good morale for the riders.”
The Cycling Ulster Executive would like to thank all of the riders and the support team who put in one of the best performances ever seen by an Ulster team in the race. Well done also to those Ulster riders who represented the various club teams as well as PJ Doogan (Powerhouse Sport) and Ethan Downey (Clann Éireann CC) who also performed their duties well for the Irish team who took the overall honours through Ben Walsh.
Finally thanks to the various supporters of the CU Road Commission including our kit sponsors, MDS Sports and O’Reilly Stewart Solicitors.
(Thanks to Stephen McMahon for some of the action shots)
